68,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine damaged in Estonia / Article

More than 68,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which was to be donated to other countries, were damaged on Tuesday due to rising storage temperatures in the warehouses of the Estonian Department of Health, the department acknowledged on Tuesday.

These vaccines should be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius, but it has been found that the temperature in the cold rooms in the two warehouses of the Department of Health rose to 15 degrees last week.

The department together with the state real estate manager JSC “Riigi Kinnisvara” has started to investigate the circumstances of the incident. The panel, which includes all stakeholders and independent experts, will also provide its assessment.

In addition to the above, other vaccines and medicinal products have been stored in the cold rooms, the validity of which will be evaluated. These included vaccines for newborns in accordance with the national joint immunization plan.

Preliminary findings from the investigation suggest that at least 100,000 doses of vaccines and other medicines may have become unusable.

Mari Anne Herma, Deputy Director General of the Estonian Department of Health, told a press conference that the rise in temperature in the cold rooms was discovered by an employee of the Department of Health on the morning of June 25. The temperature has risen since June 22, but the automatic warning system has not worked for some reason. According to her, what happened is the result of a coincidence of several circumstances.

Hermina’s words were supplemented by Kati Kusmina, the manager of “Riigi Kinnisvara”. “Firstly, the unusually long period of heat created an additional load on the cooling systems. Secondly, the automatic double alarm systems did not work properly,” she explained. “Such incidents are unacceptable and we will work with the Department of Health to ensure that they do not happen again.”

According to the Minister of Health Tanel Kīks, the vaccination process in Estonia itself will not affect the vaccination process.

Illars Lanno, Director General of the Department of Health, added that the department always insures its medical supplies and information about what has happened has already been sent to the insurer. He admitted that he could resign if the commission found the department guilty of what had happened.

All participants in the press conference emphasized that what happened was definitely not related to intentional abuse.

It is currently estimated that the losses could amount to EUR 1.15 million, but this amount may turn out to be higher.

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